Cylindrical runway toy



Oct. 5, 1965 l.. ROEPER CYLINDRICAL RUNWAY TOY Filed April 15, 1965 IN V ENTOR. ,676 0,625.52? BY M if'fP/VZV' United States Patent O 3,209,491 CYLINDRICAL RUNWAY TOY Leo Roeper, 300 St. Nicholas Ave., Ridgewood, NX. Filed Apr. 15, 1963, Ser. No. 273,224 6 Claims. (Cl. i6- 243) This invention relates to toys in general, and in particular to a toy race track and a `toy vehicle adapted to perate on an endless circular track or on a cylindrical surface.

Another object of the invention is t-o provide a poweroperated toy race track and vehicle of the above type which is -simple in construction and economical to manufacture.

An important object of the invention is to provide a toy race track and a toy vehicle which may run in an annular course in a vertical or horizontal plane without being affected by gravity.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to th'e following description and claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

It should be understood, however, that these are given by Way of illustration and not of limitation, and that various changes in the details, form and arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 2 is a cross-section taken on a line through the approach runway of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a cross-section taken on line 3--3 of FIG. 2,

FIGS. 4, 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views similar to FIG. 2, showing modied constructions of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the toy illustrated in FIG. 1 comprises a race track, generally indicated by the numeral and including a runway 22 which extends into a barrel 24. An automobile 26 is positioned on the runway and includes a body 28, a drivers figure 30 and compressed gas cartridge 32, whose neck 33 may be punctured by a suitable puncturing tool (not shown) to permit the gas to escape under pressure rearwardly, thus causing the automobile 26 to be propelled forward. The wheels 34 of the automobile are mounted on axles 36 which are displaceable in slots 38. The race track comprises a bed 40 formed with side walls 42 and a central guide -rail 44, extending longitudinally of the track and provided with grooves 46 in which are received groove followers 48. A laterally projecting trip bar 50 is secured to on'e side of the automobile for closing a door 52 secured by hinge 54 to barrel 24 and initially held in open position by means of support 56 pivotable in opening 58. As the automobile is propelled forward the bar 50 trips the support 56, disengaging it from the door 52 and permitting it to swing downwardly, as shown in dotted lines in FIG. 1, thus forming a circular runway. The circular runway consists of a floor 60, sidewalls 62 and guide track 64 formed with grooves 66.

In the modification shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle 26a s provided with a body 28a and wheels 34a, while track walls 42a are formed with grooves 46a receiving followers 48a.

In FIG. 5 there is shown an electrically operated modi- 3,209,491 Patented Oct. 5, 1965 cation of th'e toy. The bed 40b is formed of insulating material and grooves 4Gb are formed in walls 4217 for receiving followers 48h. Longitudinally extending electrodes 63 feed current through contacts 70 to an electric motor (not shown) in the body 28b.

In yet another modification shown in FIG. 6, the floor 40e is likewise formed with side walls 42e and the vehicle 26C is provided with a body 28e and a guide 46c in the form of an elongated bar of transverse arcuate cross section, the bar being slotted to receive a follower 48C. Obviously the propulsion means in this embodiment are self-contained, in the manner shown in FIG. 3.

The invention having thus been described, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States of Am'erica is:

1. A toy race track comprising an open end cylinder, an inner runway extending about the inner Wall of said cylinder, a portion of said cylinders wall being formed as a door, hinge means for said door, a support pivotally mounted at said cylinders edge for supporting said door in open position, an outer approach runway aligned with said inner runway adjacent said door portion, a toy vehicle provided with a laterally projecting bar for displacing said support, means for propelling the vehicle on said runways, said runways being provided with guide means for the vehicle and follower means in said vehicle for engaging with said guide means.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein said guide means comprise a track provided with lateral grooves and said follower means are a pair of groove followers secured to the underside of the vehicle.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein said guide means are side walls extending from both said runways and provided with interior grooves and said follower means are a pair of groove followers extending laterally of said vehicle.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein said guide means comprise a longitudinally slotted rail of arcuate transverse cross section and said follower means is a Irod secured to the underside of the vehicle and extending downwardly through said slot.

5. The device according to claim 1 wherein said means for propelling the vehicle is a compressed gas cartridge mounted on said vehicle.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the means for propelling said vehicle include an electric motor for said vehicle and an electric power `supply and said runways are of electrically insulating material and wherein a pair of current bearing rails is secured to said runways, there being further provided a pair of electrical contacts on the underside of the vehicles body and means connecting said contacts to said motor.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 643,996 2/00 Anderson 104-57 812,595 2/06 Roberts 46-202 2,591,376 4/52 Rees 46-206 2,698,180 12/54 Hersh 273-86 2,920,420 1/ 60 Kolodziejski 46-243 DELBERT B. LOWE, Primary Examiner. RICHARD C. PINKHAM, Examiner. 

1. A TOY RACE TRACK COMPRISING AN OPEN CYLINDER, AN INNER RUNWAY EXTENDING ABOUT THE INNER WALL OF SAID CYLINDER, A PORTION OF SAID CYLINDER''S WALL BEING FORMED AS A DOOR, HINGE MEANS FOR SAID DOOR, A SUPPORT PIVOTALLY MOUNTED AT SAID CYLINDER''S EDGE FOR SUPPORT PIVOTALLY IN OPEN POSITION, AN OUTER APPROACH RUNWAY ALIGNED WITH SAID INNER RUNWAY ADJACENT SAID DOOR PORTION, A TOY VEHICLE PROVIDED WITH A LATERALLY PROJECTING BAR FOR DISPLACING SAID SUPPORT, MEANS FOR PROPELLING THE VEHICLE ON SAID RUNWAYS, SAID RUNWAYS BEING PROVIDED WITH GUIDE MEANS FOR THE VEHICLE AND FOLLOWER MEANS IN SAID VEHICLE FOR ENGAGING WITH SAID GUIDE MEANS. 